You Gotta Be Ready
by dirtyconfessions
Summary: AU - Charlotte Davis is a 20 year-old investigative journalist. But when she stumbles upon a crime scene were she encounters the mysterious special ops team called Torchwood, her life if changed forever. But is she ready? - A re-write of season 1 to include my OC. It might be better than it sounds, I don't know.
1. Everything Changes, Part 1

**Authors Note: This is a result of boredom really. I was rewatching Torchwood and thought of doing a OC self-insertion story. You see loads from Doctor Who, but I've never seen one with Torchwood so here we go. =] I'm going to a put a disclaimer on this chapter and that's the last time I'll be doing one. Each episode will be put into 3 separate chapters. Just because I will be able to update more because of school. **

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Torchwood. It belongs to the BBC and Russell T Davis. If I owned Torchwood, Owen and Ianto would still be alive.**

The rain was chucking it down, as it always did on a typical night in Cardiff. Charlotte wrapped her jacket tightly around her as she walked at a past pace down the street, cringing every time she felt rain drops fall onto her mass of brown hair. She hated going out in the rain, everyone did really. But she had to do this. Her job wasn't easy, especially when she was a freelancer and young, only 20 years through her life, but it was what she enjoyed, and she was going to do her upmost best to excel. Even if it meant walking through rainy Cardiff during the night.

She carried on walking until she found where she needed to be. It was some sort of alley way at the back of a multi storey car park. At first she wasn't sure if she was at the place her friend had told her to be, but then she noticed the police cars that were parked around. Yep, this was where she was meant to be. She quickly began walking up to the police officer who was standing just inside of the tape that a few other police officers were putting up. Walking right up so she wasn't even centimetres away from the tape, she scanned the scene before her. Inside the taped area were a bunch of people dressed in white overalls, huddled around a paled corpse. It reminded Charlotte a lot of CSI. But then again it was a crime scene.

"Who is he?" She asked the officer standing in front of her.

The officer turned around, "Dunno. Some bloke." He replied bluntly, "Didn't think you'd actually come here." He commented.

"It's the only piece of juicy news I've heard in Cardiff for weeks." Charlotte smirked, "How can a journalist resist?"

The officer rolled his eyes, "Just don't tell anyone that I told you." he said strictly, "I'll get in the shit if they found out."

"Yet you still do it." Charlotte said.

"Well, you're my cousin, and you need help. What am I supposed to do?"

Charlotte smirked as she pulled the officer into a hug over the tape, "Awww, that's my Andy. Always looking out for me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, leaving red lipstick in the process.

Andy pushed her off and began attempting to wipe away the red mark that she had left. "Piss off." He said annoyed, only to gain a cheeky grin from his younger cousin. "I got you a coffee." He said handing a steaming paper cup out. Charlotte took in nodding in thanks as she took a sip. "You going to Slimbo's on Friday?" Andy suddenly asked.

"What is it, drinks?" Charlotte asked, moving a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

"Bit of pizza, I think."

"Might do, yeah." Charlotte shrugged. She opened up her shoulder bag and began rummaging around through all the bits of pieces she had chucked in there. Finally finding what she was looking for, she pulled out her camera and she began to muck about with the lens when suddenly a firm hand snatched it from her. She looked up to glare at her cousin, "Andy!"

"No photographs." He said, "I draw a line at photographs."

"But I need photographs!" Charlotte complained.

"You can write the bloody article without them." Andy argued. His attention suddenly turned back over to the crime scene. Another police officer, this one a lot larger, was ushering the forensic team off. Charlotte raised her eye brow at that, at all the crimes scenes that she had been to (which was a few), she had never seen the forensic team suddenly pushed off the crime scene like that. "Aye, aye." Andy said, "What's happening there, then?"

Police officers started herding other members of the public out of the way, and Andy walked off to do the same, leaving Charlotte on her own. She knew she'd never be ushered off. Charlotte had gone through most of her life unnoticed; tonight wasn't going to be any exception. She watched as the forensic team started packing all of their gear into the van. Obviously they were having to leave. But Charlotte had no idea why. Trying to find some answers, she rushed up to one of the men, standing by the van.

"Excuse me, sir. What is it?" she asked, "What's happening?"

"Buggered if I know." He replied, "It's orders from above."

"But the body's still in there, though, isn't it? You can't just leave it." Charlotte said looking over and the body still left of the drenched pavement.

"Move back, they said. Clear the site." The man said, "Special access, they said."

"For whom?"

"Torchwood." The man answered.

Charlotte had absolutely no idea who Torchwood were. But Charlotte wouldn't be surprised if it was the people in the black SUV that was currently driving up the alley way, blinding people that they drove past with their extremely bright headlights. They parked close to the crime scene, right next to Charlotte and the forensic guy. Four people climbed out of the SUV shortly afterwards. Two of them were men, the other two were women. Two of them; the shorter man and the taller woman were wearing similar leather jackets. The shorter woman, Japanese, wore a slightly longer leather jacket. But the one that Charlotte was paying most attention to was the taller man walking in front. He was wearing a long, dark blue trench coat, a lot like the ones that soldiers wore in the 1940's, stripes and all. The coat swished around as he walked along with a lot of confidence. His dark hair went along with his look. Altogether, Charlotte though he would be the perfect example of what you call a 'tall dark and handsome stranger'.

"So, who's Torchwood?" She asked the forensics guy, who was still standing next to her.

He simply shrugged, "Special ops or something." He looked down at the coffee in Charlotte's hand, as she continued to gaze at the mysterious foursome in front of her. "Is that hot?" he asked.

Charlotte snapped out of her gaze, and looked down at the coffee that he was referring to. "Um, yeah. Have it." she said handing it over to him. "But they can't be allowed in there, can they?" she asked as the man took a sip of the coffee, "They could contaminate evidence and all sorts. I mean how can they…"

"Don't ask me." The man cut her off, "There's no procedure anymore. It's a fucking disgrace." And with that he walked off and climbed into the van as it drove off.

Charlotte turned her attention back to the group who were now gathered around the body. The tall, dark haired man was now doing the buttons up to his trench coat. Charlotte watched him in slight fascination. She could already tell that he was different. It wasn't just his clothes, which were already a bit strange for this time period. It was the vibe that he was giving off that Charlotte could feel. A vibe that told her something was odd. When she usually got those vibes, she would investigate. After all, she didn't put the world investigative before journalist for nothing. She looked up at the multi storey car park. It looked like it was empty; no one would catch her watching if she went up there. She turned over to look at Andy, who was still currently busy with another officer. Taking her chance, Charlotte pegged it as she worked her way up the car park.

_~8~_

Charlotte finally reached a decent spot. It was high enough up that she would be able to see everything that was going on, and there were no cars parked so she wouldn't be disturbed or questioned. She cautiously peered down to the ground, trying my best to hide at the same time in case any of them looked up. Blinding white lights were set up around the body, as they began working. The short man and woman were carrying what seemed to look like ordinary day technology, but judging by the strange metal glove that the taller woman was currently holding, I was guessing that none of those were ordinary. The tall, dark, handsome man was currently just standing there staring up at the sky, as he started rambling on.

"There you go. I can taste it." he told them, speaking in an American accent. "Oestrogen. Definitely oestrogen. You take the pill, flush it away, it enters the water cycle, feminises the fish. It goes all the way into the sky and then falls all the way back down onto me. Contraceptives in the rain. I love this planet." He paused for a second, "Still, at least I won't get pregnant. Never doing that again." He then turned around to the other three, looking at the taller woman with the glove, "How's it going?" he asked.

"Nothing yet." She told him, "It's got to connect. I've just got to feel it."

"Then hurry up and feel it." The shorter man snapped, "I'm freezing my arse off here."

"I can't just flick a switch! It's more like access. It grants me access." Tall woman told him.

"Whatever that means." Short man said, rolling his eyes.

"It's like…" She suddenly cut off as she started making 'oh' noises. She then placed her gloved hand underneath the dead man's head. Charlotte raised her eyebrows, wondering what the hell this tall woman was doing. The other three began gathering round, obviously getting ready for something to happen.

"If I get punched again, I'm punching it right back." Short man said. Charlotte smirked at that, she was quite liking him.

"Just concentrate." Tall, dark, handsome man told him, "Suzie."

Tall woman nodded. Then, all of a sudden the rain just simply stopped and the lights around the body tightened. Charlotte felt her stomach clench, slightly in fear of what was going to happen next. Whatever she had expected to come next, she probably hadn't expected this. The corpse's eyes opened suddenly as he gasped for breath. Charlotte looked on, her mouth wide open.

"I was… I was… I was…" the corpse stuttered, "Oh, my God. I was going home."

"Listen to me." Short, Japanese woman said, "We've only got two minutes so it's important you listen, okay?"

"Who are you?"

"Trust me. You're dead." She told him. Charlotte rolled her eyes. _What a great way to break it to him. _She thought.

"How am I dead?" he asked.

"You were stabbed." Short man told him.

"But I'm not dead, I can see you."

"We've brought you back, but we haven't got long." Short woman told him, "I'm sorry, but you've got to concentrate. Who did this to you? What did you see?"

"Why am I dead?"

"Who attacked you?" Short woman tried again.

"I don't wanna be dead."

"Sixty seconds." Tall woman with the glove told them.

"You've got to think." Short woman pressed on, "Just focus on me. What was the last thing you saw?"

"I didn't see any… I don't know."

"Who killed you? Did you see them?" Short woman asked again.

"I don't know! There was something behind me."

"Police said one stab wound in the back." Short man told them.

Short woman turned from the short man back to the corpse, or what had been the corpse. "So you didn't see anything?"

"No." There was an awkward silence as the four of them exchanged looks. The man looked completely frightened as he looked between all of them, "What happened now?" he asked.

"Thirty seconds." Tall woman told them.

"But he didn't see anyone." Short woman said to her.

"Don't waste it." Tall woman answered back.

"What else do I say?" Short woman asked.

Tall, dark and handsome, who hadn't said anything the whole time, bent down just like the other three. He looked down at the man as he began talking to him, "What's your name?" he asked.

"John. John Tucker."

"Okay, John." He said, "Not long now."

"Who are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness." He replied, "Tell me, what was it like when you died? What did you see?" The man didn't reply, "John, tell me what you saw."

"Ten seconds." Tall woman said.

"Nothing." The man replied, "I saw nothing… Oh, my God. There's nothing." Not even a second later, the body became lifeless, and he was now a corpse again. The lights dimmed as well, and the rain started up again. Charlotte continued to watch, shaken by what she just saw and they all started bickering.

"Shit!" Short man said, "I said it was stupid telling him he was dead."

"Well, you try it." Short woman snapped.

"Trust me. Like that's gonna work." Short man retorted.

Tall, dark and handsome. Which Charlotte now knew was Captain Jack Harkness shrugged as he stood up. "Told the last corpse he was injured. He wasted the whole two minutes screaming for an ambulance. Maybe there's no right way of doing it." He tipped his head up as he looked straight at Charlotte making complete eye contact and he raised his voice, "What do you think?"

Charlotte shot back, away from the edge. She didn't even think, she just ran. Hoping she wouldn't bump into Andy in the process.

**Authors Note: So was it good? Bad? Let me know in a review. No flames though, I burn easily. And I don't react well when I get burnt either. And if you want me to continue them definitely review because I won't continue if no one likes it. **


	2. Everything Changes, Part 2

Not even half an hour later, Charlotte got back to her flat that she shared with her older brother Adam and his best mate Kieran. She could hear the television blaring in the living room, so she assumed that at least one of them was still awake. _Probably Kieran, _she thought to herself. She chucked her bag down on the floor as she walked through the hallway.

"You still up?" she called out.

"In here." A voice called out. _Kieran. Knew it. _She thought again. He moved up on the sofa a bit so that there was room for Charlotte to sit down, "They said on the news, murder in the city centre. Were you there?"

"No. Andy didn't tell me anything about it." She lied. If she had told the truth, then being the nosey bugger she knows Kieran is, he would have started to ask questions that Charlotte wouldn't be able to answer. She wasn't even sure she actually believed what had happened there herself right now, let alone anyone else if she told them. "Adam went to bed then?" She asked, hoping that it would change the subject.

"Nah. His girlfriend's back from that family holiday. So he's staying around hers for the night." He told her.

"Great." Charlotte said sarcastically. As much as she loved her older brother, she hated his girlfriend, Amanda. Ever since she saw her, they both suddenly made an instant dislike. So did Kieran, as well. Neither him or Charlotte would call her by her name. Just, 'the girlfriend'. Both of them had been happy during the two weeks she had been gone, it had been quiet, and they had seen a lot more of Adam than they usually did. Charlotte knew that it wouldn't be the same now she was back. "So why are you still up then?" she frowned.

Kieran shrugged, "I dunno. Guess I was waiting for you to turn up so we could talk about our mutual loathing for your brother's girlfriend." Charlotte smirked at that. "There's some Chinese in the fridge if you want it."

"Nah, I'm knackered. I'm going to bed." She told him, "You should get some sleep to, you know."

"I'll finish this first." Kieran said nodding to the TV, which was showing some soap opera. "This man's found his sister."

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She got up from the sofa as she headed towards her room at the end of the hall.

"Night Char." Kieran called.

"Night, Kier."

~8~

Charlotte yawned as she walked down the street towards a pub that she was meeting with her friends at for lunch the next day. Although, right now, she wasn't sure it was a good idea. She was tired. She barely got any sleep last night, all she could think about was that mysterious team she had seen last night. Torchwood. And more importantly Captain Jack Harkness. That was when an idea sprung in her head, grabbing her phone from her jean pocket she began to punch in Andy's phone number. Pressing the call button she placed the phone to her ear, and waited as patiently as she could until her cousin picked up the phone.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, Andy. It's me."

"_Charlotte?"_ Andy sighed, _"What do you want?"_

"I was just wondering… you wouldn't be able to do some research for me?" She asked.

"_What for?" _

"A report that this newspaper is paying me to write." Charlotte lied, again. There was a pause at the other end of the line and Charlotte tensed up, knowing that Andy was trying to decide whether he thought she was telling the truth or not.

"_Research on who?"_ he finally said.

"A Captain Jack Harkness." She replied.

"_All right, I'll see what I can do."_ He said, _"No promises though."_

"Cheers Andy." She smiled, "Anyway gotta go. Meeting up with the friends."

"_All right then. Bye."_ And then he hung up.

~8~

"It said on the new last night that there's been another murder." Kerry said as her and Charlotte sat down at a table, along with their two other friends Matt and Sean as they tucked into our lunch. Which was cheesy chips. "His name was…"

"John Tucker." Charlotte finished for her, taking a sip of her lemonade.

"So, you were at the crime scene last night, weren't you?" Sean said smirking.

"No." She told him, lying for the 3rd time in 24 hours. "I just watched the news as well."

"Charlotte. Wherever there's trouble, you're always there trying to get a story out of it." Matt said, "You were obviously there." Charlotte said nothing; she just took another sip from her glass. She should have known better than trying to lie to them. They had been her friends since she was a little child in a sandpit. They probably knew her better than she knew herself most of the time. She was just hoping that they wouldn't ask her anything about it.

"Anyway," Kerry carried on, "That's the third victim."

"Well done, Kerry. You can count to three." Charlotte commented, making the two boys snigger.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of a glass being smashed. The four of them all turned around to see where the noise was coming from, to see two men. One of them was no bleeding from the head, making it obvious that the other man had smashed the glass over his head. Charlotte sighed, knowing that it wasn't going to stop there. And just like she had thought, the man with the bleeding head went and punched the other man. It wasn't long until the fight between the two men, suddenly turned into a fight between everyone in the whole pub, and it was only lunch time.

The four friends searched the room, trying to find a way out that wouldn't get them hurt. Charlotte had seen the barman call the police, so she knew that if they couldn't find a way out, some officers would be there to stop the fight soon anyway. Finding a gap, the four of them took their chances, and moved through it. They were close enough to the door, when two officers walked in. One a man and one a woman. Charlotte recognised the man instantly.

"Charlotte?" Andy questioned, wondering why his younger cousin would be in the middle of a riot in a pub, in the afternoon.

Before anymore words could be exchanged, two fighting men crashed into Charlotte, sending the girl to the floor. It all seemed the happen in slow motion, as she saw Andy rush to try and grab her before she fell. But he was just a little too late. She heard her head make a loud crack as it came into contact with the hard floor. Everything was a sudden blur as her three friends help pick her up of the floor, as Andy went to stop the fight for good along with the other officer. Charlotte reached to touch the back of her head, only to find that her hair was damp. She pulled her hand back and saw dark red blood covering her hand.

_Brilliant._ She thought. _Just what I needed._

~8~

Charlotte flinched as the doctor behind her, passed the needle through the cut in her head. Andy had, had to go back the police station, so Sean had brought her in to the hospital, and was currently waiting outside in his car for her. Although, she had bets that he had gone to get some food as well. She continued to flinch until the doctor finally finished stitching up her head.

According to the doctor himself, it was only a minor head injury and she was free to leave, which Charlotte was happy for. And after taking some stupid leaflet that he had given her, she left and began walking towards the exit of the hospital. That was until something caught her eye. She looked up just in time to see the same, familiar, dark and handsome man in the trench coat running up the stairs. Captain Jack Harkness. After a second's hesitation, Charlotte raced up the stairs after him. Trying her best to ignore the throbbing headache that her head was producing right now. When she finally reached the top, the captain was gone. The doorway in front of her, that led to another area has been sealed off with a plastic sheet and some police tape. He had, nowhere else to go. So how had he disappeared? Charlotte had no idea. She suddenly heard a loud noise coming from the floor below her, and back up a few steps to see who was down there. She saw a man, who looked like he worked at the hospital, a premises manager or something heading towards a door on the floor below.

"Excuse me." She called, catching the man's attention. He turned around and look up to see me, "Sorry. It's all sealed off up there. Who did that?" She asked.

"I think it was the police." The man told her. Obviously not too sure about it himself.

"But what's it for?" She asked, "What happened?"

The man shrugged, "I don't know. 9:00 this morning it was all sealed off. They never said. Chemicals or something." He told her. Charlotte watched him walk off. She waited until the door he walked through closed behind him and he was completely out of site before she headed back towards the sealed off area. Carefully, she opened up the plastic sheet and climbed through it. All she was met with was an empty corridor. No chemicals, no nothing. Charlotte couldn't see anything harmless about it.

"Hello?" she called out. But she didn't get any answer back, just silence. Then suddenly there was the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing, and Charlotte watched as a figure, in blue overalls came from around one of the corners. "Sorry, I'm just looking for someone." Charlotte apologized. The figure never replied, and just stopped when it was right in front of her. Charlotte sighed as she walked closer towards the figure, "Yeah, right, clever." She said to herself, "Anyway," she said to the figure again, "I don't know if you saw a man come through here? A tall man? In one of those big sort of military coats." As Charlotte got closer, she could finally see the face of the figure. It didn't look anything like a human, but Charlotte just guessed it was someone wearing a mask. Trying to play some sort of joke. "Okay. If you could answer, this is really important." The figure still didn't answer, and Charlotte cautiously took a few more steps towards it. "You all right?" she asked. Still no answer. "That's good." She commented, pointing to the figures face, "That mask sort of thing." But there was still no reply, and Charlotte was starting to feel more uneasy by the second. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I think we can stop this now, okay?" The figure wrinkled it's nose, "It's all very well playing silly buggers, but I have better things to be doing right now, okay? Now, I'm looking for a man in a big grey coat." The figure hissed at her, as its nose wrinkled even more, "I said we can stop being silly." The figure then began to growl and open its mouth, but before I could do or say anything, the premises manager, stepped through the plastic and began walking towards me.

"Ma'am! There you are. Although you shouldn't really be in here." He said as he continued to walk towards me. "But I did ask. I saw Dr Maheeb 'cause I thought it was him who said about the police, but he said no. Then I said about the chemicals and he said 'Don't be so stupid. What chemicals?' So I don't know. Could be anything. Who have you got there, then?" he asked gesturing to the figure behind me, "So much for sealing it off." As he also got closer, he caught sight of the figures face, "Oh, there's a face. Nice one. Hey, I tell you, mate. You should try plastic surgery. Not on the NHS mind." He finally got to where I was standing at turned to look at me, "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Umm… yeah." I answered as he kept glancing between him and the figure who was no growling quietly.

"Bloody hell. That is brilliant." He commented, looking at the figures face again. "That's like, um, _Hellraiser. _That's first class that is. Look at that." He said as he walked closer towards the figure, "That… It's just like real teeth. Honest." He pointed a finger at the figures teeth. The figure then suddenly grabbed hold of the man and sunk it's sharp teeth into his neck like it was some sort of vampire. Charlotte stood, frozen on the spot, watching horrified as blood spurted out in every direction. Then suddenly, Captain Jack Harkness, and the team that he was with last night suddenly appeared. Everything happened in a massive blur, as the team tried to sedate the creature, and Captain Jack Harkness ran towards her.

"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled. Charlotte suddenly found herself moving as ran back down the corridor as Captain Jack Harkness was pushing her in. She left the captains hand leave her shoulder but she didn't stop running. Without any hesitation at all, she ran out of the plastic down the stairs and into the hospital car park. She bent over, her hands on her knees, trying to catch back her breath, when all of a sudden she heard the sounds of an engine. She turned around quickly to see the black SUV from last night, moving in her direction. She managed to jump out of the way just in time before it ran her over. Whoever was driving it blared the horn as it carried on driving down the street. But Charlotte wasn't going to let them get away that easily. She ran towards Sean's car, which was empty. Praying that he had been the idiot he always had and had forgotten to lock it, she tried to open the door, and thankfully he had. He had also left the keys in there too. _Idiot._ She thought to herself. Without wasting anytime, she started up the engine and sped off in attempt to catch up with the car. Not even thinking twice about her friend, who was now watching in disbelief as she took off with his car.

~8~

Charlotte was on the highway when her phone rang. Sighing she quickly answered it, placing it between her shoulders as she continued driving after the black SUV. "Not a good time Andy."

He ignored her, _"I got someone to research Captain Jack Harkness for you."_

"What did you find?" she asked.

"_No sign of him. No such guy." _

"You did get this someone to search outside of Cardiff?" she frowned.

Andy sighed, _"That never even occurred to me."_ The sarcasm was thick in his voice, _"Course I told them to. They went nationwide. There's about 15 Jacks and Johns all with that surname. None of them were captains."_

"I guess he could have made it up." Charlotte shrugged.

"_The only Captain Jack Harkness on record is American." _Andy continued.

"That's it!" Charlotte said, "He's American."

"_Had you forgot to tell me?"_ Andy said annoyed.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, "Who is he?"

"_An American volunteer."_ He told her, _"Royal Air Force, 133 Squadron. Except he disappeared. Vanished off the records, presumed dead."_

"When was that?" She asked.

"_1941 at the height of the blitz. On the morning of January the 21__st__, 1941. Captain Jack Harkness failed to report for duty. Never seen again." _Andy said, _"What's going on Charlotte? Is this newspaper getting you to write an article on a ghost? Or are you lying to me?"_ Charlotte didn't answer him, she just hung up as she continued driving, until the SUV slowed down, and the four people got out. She stopped the car and got out as she stalked towards them.

"You lot!" she called out, but they all ignored her, "Oi! Torchwood!"

"Oi!" someone called. Charlotte turned around to see a police officer walking towards her. "You can't leave that there."

"Yeah, sorry, I'll move it in a minute." She said dismissively.

"You move it now, or it gets clamped."

Charlotte ignored the police officer as she turned back to where the four of them had been heading to. Only to find that they had disappeared, just like at the hospital.

"I'm talking to you." The officer said, "Excuse me! Move your bloody car!"

Charlotte continued to ignore him as she began walking around the water tower, where they had disappeared. But nothing. It's like they had disappeared into thin air. Charlotte was seriously starting to wonder if she had lost the plot now.

~8~

Charlotte sat in Sean's car again as the rain battered against the window. She had moved it on to a street where she could actually park as she phoned Andy again, this time to check out the number plate of the SUV.

"_There's no such number."_ Andy told her.

Charlotte sighed in frustration, "What does that mean?"

"_It doesn't exist. Double checked with Swansea. Tripled checked. There's nothing. No such vehicle."_ He sighed, "_Look, I'm starting to get worried now Charlotte. Are you in trouble?" _

Charlotte jumped as the door to the passenger side opened. She hung up on Andy yet again as Sean climbed into the car. His hair and clothes were soaked from the rain, and Charlotte could tell from his expression that he was pissed off with her.

"I have walked." He said, "I have bloody walked."

~8~

Charlotte circled around the tower again, as Sean mucked around on his phone, "They were here, and then they were gone." I insisted, "And look. There's nowhere to hide. They just disappeared."

Sean sighed, "Your cousins texting me now. He's doing his nut. He's threatening to dob you in to your brother if you don't answer him soon. Speaking of which, Adam isn't going to be happy if you get ill from being out in the cold now is he?" He then frowned, "How did Andy get my number anyway?"

Charlotte sighed in frustration, "There was a man. I'm telling you, Sean. There was this porter or some sort of premises manager, and he was killed. Or at least he was injured; he must have been injured, right in front of me. This man in a mask sort of lashed out and…"

"And I've told you. If it happened, there would have been more of a fuss." Sean told her, "It would be on the bloody news or something!"

Charlotte shook her head as she walked closer to the water tower again, "I _saw_ it."

"That's sick." Sean said, "Charlotte, sweetheart, think about it. What sort of story is that? You're not well. Come with me, I'll take you home." Charlotte sighed as Sean put his hand on her shoulder and lead her towards the car.

"They were here." she insisted.

Sean sighed, "Come on."

~8~

Charlotte watched Sean drive off in his car before she walked into the flat. It was eerily quiet and she was starting to think that everyone was out, that was until she heard a girly giggle come from the living room. Charlotte sighed, Amanda was the last thing she needed right now. She took a deep breath before she made her entrance into the living room. Her brother and Amanda were sitting on the sofa together watching TV, while Kieran was stood in the kitchen next to the cooker. Kieran was the first one to greet her.

"Hey, look at me." He said grinning. Proud that he was actually cooking something that hadn't burnt yet. Which to Charlotte was also very impressive. "Hot pot." He told her, before mocking a French accent, "Or as the French call it, 'hot pot'." Charlotte smirked before giving him a hug.

"Where have you been all day then?" Adam asked from the sofa. "Andy phone earlier." Charlotte froze, "Said you had a run in at the pub earlier. Had to go to hospital. Are you all right?"

"Oh, I just hit my head, it was nothing." She frowned, "Did he say anything else?" she queried.

Adam shrugged, "No. But he did say he wants to speak with you."

"Oh, right. If he phones again tell him I'll go see him tomorrow morning." Charlotte told him. Adam nodded. "I'm going out."

"You only just got here!" Kieran complained, "And I'm cooking hot pot."

"I promised I'd go meet Kerry." Charlotte told him, "Sorry."

"You're going out like that?" Amanda said, speaking to me for the first time since Charlotte had been in here. "You look like a drowned rat." She scoffed.

Charlotte ignored her, "I'll see you later." She told her brother and Kieran before she left the flat one more time. She wasn't going to sit around doing nothing, she was going to find Torchwood.

~8~

Charlotte stood by the water tower once again, staring at it, like the four people would suddenly appear again. But they never did. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her as a cold breeze brushed past her. She watched as a scooter that belonged to a pizza company passed by. Suddenly she had a new idea, and with no hesitation, she began walking after the scooter.

~8~

Charlotte walked into the pizza shop up towards the counter where a young boy was standing. "Excuse me?" she said, catching the boys attention. "My names Charlotte Davis, I'm a journalist for a health magazine and I'm writing an article about the consumption of fast food in Cardiff." She lied to the boy, who seemed to believe it all as he nodded. "I don't suppose you deliver to a Captain Jack Harkness?"

"Oh, I don't know." The boy shrugged.

"Well, could you have a look?" Charlotte asked. She waited as patiently as she could while the young boy typed the name into the computer.

"No." he told her, "He's not a regular, anyway."

"J Harkness or just Harkness?" Charlotte asked.

The boy typed the names in. But he shook his head, "No." he answered simply.

Charlotte sighed, "Okay, never mind. Thanks anyway." She turned to leave when an idea hit her. She turned around again to face the young boy, "I don't suppose you've got a Torchwood?" she asked.

The boy nodded, "Oh, aye. We do them all the time. Good customers."

~8~

Charlotte walked towards the address that she had been given by the young boy at the pizza shop. She had a few boxes of pizza in her hand which she had paid for with the cash that she had, had in the pocket at the time, so hopefully she didn't look to suspicious. Finally she approached what she thought looked like a tourist office on the bay. Hesitating slightly for a few seconds she finally opened the door. She took a look around; this was definitely a tourist office. She was starting to wonder if the pizza boy had given her the wrong address. Just then, a young man walked into the room, carrying a cup of coffee in his hand, he smile at her slightly.

"Oh, hi. Sorry I'm late." she said, "Someone ordered pizza?"

"Who's it for?" He asked, his Welsh accent thick and clear.

"I think it's a Mr Harkness." She replied. The door behind her suddenly slammed shut, making her jump. The welsh man smiled. He pressed a button, making another door, which had been disguised as a wall open. Charlotte stared at it for a few seconds before turning back to the man.

"Don't keep him waiting." He said to her. Charlotte hesitated and the man nodded his head towards the door, mouthing 'go on' at me. Finally she stepped through the door and found herself in a long and dark corridor. The door behind her shut again as well, and yet another one opened at the end of the corridor and some light flooded in. Charlotte walked warily towards it. She stepped past the door, and then this one closed as well. She felt the place she was standing on move down, like she was in some sort of lift. Once it finally stopped moving the door opened again, as well as another door which was in the shape of a giant cog to reveal an archway. Charlotte walked in, not even thinking about backing away now. She was so close.

She found herself standing in a ginormous room. It was almost like some sort of weird fortress. She would see the shorter Japanese woman from last night working at a computer nearby, almost as if she didn't notice Charlotte presence. The cog shaped door closed behind her, as well as two iron gates also closed, making any route of escape impossible now. Not that Charlotte was even thinking about escaping. Charlotte heard a bubbling noise and turned around to see a human hand in cased in a jar. Well Charlotte hoped it was human anyway. Her gaze turned around to another person working in the room, it looked like it was the taller woman from last night, but she wasn't sure as the face was covered with a mask. Finally the person removed the mask, to show that Charlotte was correct and it was the taller woman. She then looked around see the shorter man, also working at a desk, all of them seemed completely oblivious to the fact that there was a stranger in here. Charlotte heard a door open up above and watched as Captain Jack Harkness stepped out of the room up above. He walked down the steps and past her, as he went and sat down as a desk as well. Charlotte carefully walking up the steps towards him, walking past the shorter woman who still had her eyes fixed on the computer screen. She had barely made it past the shorter man when both him and the shorter woman burst out laughing. She frowned as the shorter man slid his chair away from the desk.

"I can't do this. I'm sorry." He grinned, "I'm rubbish. I give up." He raised his hands in defeat and Charlotte raised her eyebrows even more.

"He set me off." The shorter woman accused pointing to the man next to him.

"Well, that lasted 0.2 seconds." The taller woman complained from her working station.

"Hmm. She's actually carrying pizza." The short man mused as she smirked at Charlotte.

"Come on!" Captain Jack Harkness said from his desk as he stood up from it, "She was gonna say, 'Here's your pizza,' was I was gonna say, 'How much?' And she says, 'Oh, whatever, 20 quid,' and I say, 'Oh, I don't have any money.'" He leaned on the pillar next to him. The shorter man stuck a pen in his mouth as he glanced between Captain Jack and Charlotte, making her feel even more uneasy. "I was working on a punch line. I'd have got there, but it would have been good." Captain Jack finished.

"There's your pizza." Charlotte said warily, "I think I'd better go."

"I think we've gone past that stage." Captain Jack told her.

"You must have been freezing out there." The taller woman said, "How long were you walking around? Three hours?"

Charlotte looked at her wide-eyed, "You could see me?"

"Mhm." The woman replied, nodding. She smirked before she walked away.

"And before we go any further," Captain Jack said, "Who the hell orders pizza under the name of Torchwood?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be me." the short man said raising his hand, "Sorry, I'm a twat." He placed his pen back in his mouth as he turned back to stare at Charlotte even more.

"That man at the hospital. That porter guy. What happened to him?" Charlotte asked, "That was real, wasn't it. He was attacked."

Jack nodded, "He's dead." He replied.

"But there would have been more fuss is he was dead." She said.

"We took the body," the short woman piped up, "Retrospectively changed the work rota, planted a false witness who saw him leaving the hospital, giving him an alibi for the next 48 hours, so when his body's pulled out of the docks next Tuesday night, he's only been missing for three days." She explained.

"He was murdered." Charlotte stated.

"Yeah."

"And you covered it up."

She shrugged, "It's my job." She told me simply.

"And that other man, John Tucker?" Charlotte asked, turning back to Jack. "Last night in the alleyway, I saw you."

"And what did you see?" Jack asked, walking towards her.

"You revived him." Charlotte answered.

"No." Jack said, "What did you see?"

"You resuscitated him."

"No." Jack said again, "What did you see?"

Charlotte turned to look at him straight in the eye, "You brought him back to life." She finally said.

"Yeah." Jack nodded.

She stared at him for a couple of seconds before finally saying, "Who are you?"

"Torchwood." Jack answered simply.

"What's Torchwood?" Charlotte asked.

"This is Torchwood," Jack said, "All around you."

"And what happens to me?" She asked nervously, "I'm only 20. I'm Charlotte Davis, I'm just a journalist. But my cousins in the police, if I go missing he'll be investigating. You can't go anything to me."

"Right, then, Charlotte Davis." He took a few steps so that he was right in front of her, "Do you want to come see?"

"See what?" Charlotte asked.

"You saw the murder…" He said with a slight smirk, "Come see the murderer." He walked down the steps, just expecting Charlotte to follow him. She stood still for a few seconds, reluctant to go.

"Go with him." Taller woman said. Charlotte placed the boxes of pizza down onto a table near her before she too walked down the steps.

"What is Torchwood?" She asked, "Who are you? What is this place?" She was cut off by a high pitched screech. Charlotte jumped as she looked up just in time to see what the source of the screeching fly above her head, "What was that?"

"Pterodactyl." The shorter woman answered her. Charlotte went to open her mouth to question it but was cut off again by the sound of Captain Jack Harkness' voice.

"Are you coming?"

**Authors Note: Thanks for everyone who reviewed, followed the story and added it to their favourites. It means a lot. Review again if you still want me to carry on, because I see no point in posting anymore if no-one is reading it.**

**Also sorry if there are any typos. I haven't proof-read it yet.**

**Anyway hope you enjoyed **


	3. Everything Changes, Part 3

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. This will be the ending of the episode Everything Changes. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'll reply to the anonymous reviews now.**

**Guest: Thank you for the advice, and I'll definitely take it on board. And don't worry, at least you actually gave me something constructive instead of just bashing it, which I'm grateful for as I'm always looking for ways to improve. So yeah, I'll take your advice on board, and thank you again :) Also on your CharlottexOwen question, I'm going to keep that a secret. ;) Hehe.**

~8~

Jack pushed open a heavy, metal door and led Charlotte inside. She found herself in a dark and dingy corridor with cells aligned at the side. Jack walked slowly towards the cell at the very end and Charlotte followed, slightly reluctant. He pressed a button on the wall, turning the light on in the cell that the two of them were standing in front of. Charlotte almost jumped as she saw the creature inside it. Crouched down on the floor, growling was the same creature that she had seen in the hospital earlier today. She took a few steps back from the cell as she continued to stare at it, wide-eyed.

"It's all right, it's safe. It's sedated." Jack assured her, "It's called a Weevil. Or at least, we call them Weevils. We don't know their real name because they're not too good at communicating." Charlotte nodded, she had guessed that already from what happened earlier today, as well as the fact that it was baring its teeth at them and growling. "But we've got a couple of hundred of them in the city, living in the sewers, feeding off the… Well, it's the sewers. You can guess. But every once in a while, one of them goes rouge, come to the surface, attacks. Actually, it's been happening more and more and we have no idea why. But it's alien." He then turned around to look at Charlotte, "Look into its eyes." He told her. He hadn't needed to though. She already was. She was scared, but she couldn't seem to even take her eyes off of it. She was staring at an alien, a real life alien. Jack walked around her as she moved closer towards the cell. He picked up a stool, placing it slightly behind her, as he sat her down on it. "There you go. Take your time." He told her, although Charlotte wasn't barely paying attention to him anymore as she continued to stare at the creature. "It was born on a different world, and it's real."

~8~

Jack led her up the stairs and back into the main room where the rest of the team were. They both walked towards the working stations as Jack began introducing them all. He started off with the shorter man, who was spinning around aimlessly in his chair.

"Owen Harper, Charlotte Davis." Jack introduced them both.

"Dr Owen Harper, thank you." Owen corrected him. Charlotte tried her best not to roll her eyes as she nodded.

"Toshiko Sato, computer genius." Jack continued, gesturing to the Japanese woman who was still sitting at her computer. "Suzie Costello, she's second in command." He pointed over to the taller woman who was back working at her station. She gave a smile which Charlotte returned. The man from behind the counter earlier on suddenly appeared, and Jack began introducing again, "And this is Ianto Jones. Ianto cleans up after us and gets us everywhere on time." Ianto gave a smile, which Charlotte also returned as well.

"I try my best." Ianto said modestly.

"And he looks good in a suit." Jack added, he said giving her a look as he walked away.

"Careful." Ianto said, "That's harassment, sir."

"Why are you telling me their names, though?" Charlotte asked, following the captain. "I'm not supposed to know. It's classified, right?"

Jack smirked, "Way beyond classified." He replied. He went to walk off again, but stopped and turned around again when Charlotte spoke up again.

"You shouldn't be telling me then." She said, "What are you going to do to me?" She asked. She had seen similar things on TV before. Someone knows too much, they end up getting chased by some assassin who's out to kill them. Were they going to kill her?

"What do you imagine?" Jack asked, turning around again, and this time walking away.

"Well, I've seen too much." She said, "Your names and everything, and the Weevil and… You can dump someone in the water and lie about their death." Charlotte was sure that they were going to kill her now.

"Okay," he said as he walked back towards Charlotte. Complete with the trench coat that she remembered so well. "Tosh, finish that calibration tomorrow morning. Owen, first thing, get a hold of Chandler and Bell, 'cause I think they're lying. Ianto, if he needs backup, then you better be on standby. Suzie, I know it's a pain in the ass, but I need the costing on the glove research. And as for you," He turned around to Charlotte, "You're coming with me, this way." He walked off again, not even turning around to see if she was following. He knew she would be anyway.

"I'm getting fed up of following you everywhere." Charlotte said, yet she still followed him.

Jack suddenly stopped, making Charlotte also come to a halt. He turned around and grinned, "No you're not." He told her, like it was matter of fact. "And you never will." He stepped onto a concrete slab and held his hand out towards her, "Stand on here. Come on. Next to me." Charlotte took his hand and Jack led her onto the slab, making her stand right next to him. She only just heard the others shouting their goodbye's and Jack spoke to her, "Now, you came in through the front door. Let's take the scenic route." He pressed a button on the brown wrist strap that he had on his wrist and then looked up. Charlotte looked up as she saw some sort of the hatch in the ceiling open up to reveal a massive hole in it. Jack then pressed another button and the slab started the rise off the ground. Charlotte clutched on tighter to Jack's arm as they got higher and higher, fearing that she might just fall off if she moved an inch. Suzie stopped as she was leaving the base and gave a wave, which Jack returned, however Charlotte remained clutching to his arm. She didn't dare look down for the rest of the journey up. It was safe to say that she wasn't exactly a fan of heights. The slab suddenly stopped moving as they came outside the water tower, exactly where she had seen them disappear earlier today.

"But…" Charlotte stuttered staring at the people walking past. "They can see the lift!" She exclaimed. "Why aren't they…" she stopped as she looked down and realized she was still clutching onto Jack's arm. Letting go of it, she began to look at the people walking past again, "We're right in the middle of the public. They can see everything."

"Do they look like they can see us?" Jack asked.

"No, but look at us!" She exclaimed, "We couldn't be any more public."

"Hello!" Jack called out, raising a hand as he greeted a man walking past. The man however, didn't even look up once, like he was completely ignoring him. "Hey! You there! Hello!" There was still no response. "It's called a perception filter. He can sort of see us, but we don't quite register. Just like something in the corner of your eyes." He explained to her, "It only works on this exact spot. Step off…" Jack stepped off the slab as he greeted a woman passing by, "Hi. Nice night." The woman looked at him warily as she walked away. "Oh, and lo, we are perceived." He began to walk along as Charlotte looked from between the slab and him.

"How does it work?" She asked curiously as she followed him along.

Jack shrugged, "No idea." He admitted, "We know how to use it, not how it happens, but if I were to guess, I would say that there was once a dimensionally transcendental chameleon circuit placed right on this spot, which welded it's perception properties to a spatial-temporal rift."

Charlotte stared at him, having no idea what he had just said, or what it even meant. "Okay." She just said.

"But that sounds kind of ridiculous." Jack grinned, "Invisible lift has got more of a ring to it, don't you think?"

Charlotte turned back to look at the slab for a second, "Wait a minute, it no one can see that lift. What happens when the lifts coming up? There's a bloody big hole in the floor." She said, "Don't they fall in?"

Jack scoffed, "That is so Welsh."

Charlotte turned from the slab back to Jack, "What is?"

"I show you something fantastic," He said, "And you find fault." He rolled his eyes at her and began walking away.

"It's a logical question!" Charlotte defended but Jack didn't turn around to reply. She sighed as she found herself running after him, yet again.

~8~

Charlotte sat down at the bar and took a massive gulp of the glass of vodka and coke that Jack had ordered for her. She needed it right now, after everything she had seen today. She placed her glass down as she turned back to Jack. "Thing is, I just don't understand—"

"No." Jack interrupted her. "I'll tell you what I don't understand. You're going to rattle on with hat "How can this be true?" kind of shtick. What's it going to take for you people? If you want evidence of aliens, how about that big spaceship hovering over London on Christmas day? What about the Battle of Canary Wharf? A Cyberman in every home?"

Charlotte shrugged, "My brother and his friend think it's some sort of terrorism. They put psychotropic drugs in the water supplies, causing mass hallucinations."

Jack scoffed, "Yeah, well your brother and his friend are stupid."

"Oh, so you've met them both then?" Charlotte shot back at him. Jack chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. Charlotte done the same, as she tried to put her thoughts together. "So, you catch aliens then?"

Jack nodded. "Yep."

"Catching aliens is your day job."

"Yes, it is."

"You're an alien catcher?"

"Yes, I am."

Charlotte nodded, "Caught any good aliens?"

"Tons of them."

"Well, that's a heck of a job." Charlotte said, a grin on her face.

"Sure it." Jack chuckled.

"This is so weird." Charlotte thought out loud. But yet she still believed it all. She had seen one now. An actual alien, face to face. She believed it now, all of it. "So, who are you then?" she asked.

"Captain Jack Harkness." He said vaguely.

"I did some research." Charlotte began.

"Well, you are a journalist and all."

"There's only one Captain Jack Harkness that's one record. He disappeared, presumed dead." She told Jack who simply nodded. "That was in 1941."

Jack shrugged, "Well, that couldn't be me." He looked up at Charlotte, looking straight into her eyes. "Could it?" Jack didn't wait for her to answer, not that she was going to anyway. "We don't just catch aliens. We scavenge the stuff they leave behind, find ways of using it, arming the human race for the future. The 21st century's when it all changes, and you gotta be ready."

"Who's in charge of you, though?" Charlotte asked. "The government? Or what?"

Jack shook his head. "We're separate from the government, outside the police, beyond the United Nations. 'Cause if one power got hold of this stuff, they could use it for their own purposes."

"Just like you could use it for your own purposes as well." Charlotte pointed out.

"All alien technology stays on the base." Jack told her. "No one's allowed to take anything outside."

Charlotte simply nodded. She hardly doubted that any of the people who worked for him actually went by those rules. After all they were all only human, if there was something they could use to help themselves, they were going to take it. But she didn't bother to question it any further. "So, how come you ended up in Cardiff?"

"This is Torchwood Three." Jack explained. "Torchwood One was London, destroyed in the battle. Torchwood Two is an office in Glasgow, very strange man. Torchwood Three, Cardiff. Torchwood Four has kind of gone missing, but we'll find it one day."

"Why Cardiff?" Charlotte asked "If I could choose anyway to have a base, I don't think I'd choose here."

"There's a rift in space and time running right through the city. The Weevils didn't come in a spaceship. They kind of just slipped through." Jack said, "All sorts of things get washed up here. Creatures, time shifts, space junk, debris." He shrugged. "Flotsam and jetsam."

Charlotte shrugged and smirked. "Sounds like Cardiff."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't knock it. I'm a citizen."

"But where are you from?" She asked.

Jack stared at her for a minute, like he was debating on what to tell her. In the end he just simply shrugged and said, "All sorts of places."

"Thing is, I could help you." Charlotte began, "My cousin, he's with the police. He researched your name for me. He gives me information for stories. He'll get me anything if I ask. And like you said, I'm a journalist, I can investigate things."

Jack sighed. "Right, I can see the mistake. You think because we showed up at the scene of the crime, we're out to catch the killer." It was a statement, not a question.

"Well aren't you?" She asked.

"No." Jack said simply. "Sorry, nothing to do with us."

Charlotte frowned, "Then why were you even there?"

"Testing the glove." Jack answered. "We need murder victims, simple as that. The glove only works on the recently deceased, and the more violent the trauma, the stronger the resurrection. All we need is fresh meat."

"So when you were asking that man, John Tucker, about his killer, it was just a random question?"

"He'd just been murdered." Jack shrugged. "What else are you gonna ask?"

"Still, you could get an ID." Charlotte suggested. "You could help."

Jack shook his head. "We're busy."

"What, and your work is more important." Charlotte said sarcastically. Although Jack simply ignored the sarcasm.

"Now you got it."

"Well, that's though shit." Charlotte said. "Because if you let me go, then I'll tell my cousin. And he'll report it to the rest of the police. Because that glove could help them. It could help save other people's lives."

Jack nodded. "If you remember."

Charlotte frowned again, "What?"

"How's your drink?"

Charlotte turned to look down at her now empty glass. Quickly putting the pieces together she turned back to look at Jack, wide-eyed. "Have you poisoned me?" She said barely above a whisper.

"Don't be so dramatic." Jack said. "It's an amnesia pill. My own recipe with a touch of denial and a dash of retcon. Wake up tomorrow and you'll have forgotten everything about Torchwood. Worse still you'll have forgotten me." He shrugged slightly, "Which is kind of tragic."

Charlotte said nothing to him. She hopped of the bar stool and dashed out of the pub. She slowed down to a fast walk once she got outside. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around, only to see that Jack had followed her.

"Don't think you can fight it by staying awake." He told her. "I mixed in a little bit go sedative too."

"Then I'll tell someone." Charlotte said simply.

"Do you wanna do that?" Jack asked. "Do you really want us to come find them, too?"

"You fucking bastard." Charlotte growled.

"Language." Jack warned. "Nice knowing you, Charlotte Davis."

_~8~_

The house was quite when Charlotte got back home, and she had suspected that everyone had gone to bed. Trying not to wake anyone, she rushed over to her laptop that was lying on the coffee table, opened a new document and started typing as a fast pace.

She wrote down everything that she knew. What Torchwood was, what they do. She wrote about who worked there, Captain Jack Harkness, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Susie Costello, Ianto Jones and everything that she had found out about them too.

She felt herself becoming drowsy, but that only made her type even quicker, trying to get everything down before she fell asleep. Her vision started to blur and her spelling deteriorated down to that of a five year olds, but she still continued typing. She had only just finished writing about the fifth member when suddenly the screen turned black. She stared at the screen in disbelief, pressing buttons trying to get it to work. Her eyes felt like she was lifting weights on them, and before she knew it, she was passed out on the couch.

_~8~_

"Char, you lazy bitch wake up." Charlotte felt someone started shaking her and she slowly opened her eyes to see her brother staring down at her.

"Adam?"

"Did you get pissed?" He asked smirking.

Charlotte frowned something. She couldn't remember anything from last night, couldn't even remember how she had got here on the couch in the first place. She had a headache and felt as rough as ever, all the signs of her hangover. "Must have, yeah." She said. "What time is it?" she asked.

"7:30." Adam told her. "Had a last minute report to do?" he asked gesturing to the laptop which was still placed on her lap.

Charlotte shook her head. "No… I don't know."

"Bit stupid going out the lash when you've just had a bang on the head." Kieran commented, handing out a steaming hot cup of tea out to her along with a bottle of pain killers. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Charlotte took the mug and the pain killers and Kieran flopped down onto the sofa next to her, flicking through the channels on the TV.

"Andy called again while you were out." Adam said to her. "You've got to go meet him at the police station for lunch."

"Okay." She replied sleepily as he attention turned to TV, taking a sip of the tea.

_~8~_

"Have any luck?" Andy asked as Charlotte followed him through to the station to grab his things before lunch.

"Luck with what?" Charlotte asked.

"Captain Jack Harkness." Andy said.

"What are you talking about." Charlotte frowned. "Who's he?"

"Oh, don't worry about me." Andy said sarcastically. "I'll just go about wasting my time and other officers time trying to find out stuff for you that you won't even remember the next day." He paused for a second. "Still worried that you're in trouble though."

That made Charlotte frown even more. "Seriously, Andy, what are you talking about?"

"Fine, if you're going to play that game, let's just leave it." They stopped outside a large room full of people out of police uniform. Andy came to a halt, which stopped Charlotte as well. "You stay here. I'll only be a minute."

Charlotte rolled her eyes as Andy walked in but stayed put. She watched as he started having a conversation with one of the men in the room. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she saw them staring at a picture of a knife on the board, which Charlotte guessed was the weapon that was used to kill those people. It looked familiar to her, but Charlotte couldn't place where she had seen it before. She saw Andy walking back towards her, and decided to give up on it.

"All right then, off we go."

_~8~_

The two of them sat in a nearby McDonalds. Andy munching away on his chips, moaning about some guy from his work. Charlotte just stared into space, her food and milkshake untouched. Drifting in and out of her thoughts on the knife and what you could call a one way conversation between her and Andy.

"…it's vital, but was he having any of it? No, he's off and moaning, says, "Who books the ground? Who pays the subs?" Like we're ganing up on him. Practically said so. And all the time he's wheezing away and he's getting more and more heated and I'm like, "Geoff…""

Her mind went back to the knife again. Why was it so familiar? Was someone she knew the murderer or something and she had seen it in their house? She obviously knew that wasn't the answer. But she had no idea where she had seen it before, and it was bugging her. Because she knew that she wouldn't be able to get it out of her until she remembered were it came from.

_~8~_

It was the same when she got home. Adam was over round Amanda's again, leaving Kieran to moan about her as much as he liked. The two of them sat on the sofa with a bowl of cereal each, the only thing that Kieran could be bothered to make. She stared down at the floor, her cereal un touched just like her lunch had been.

"And she was just moaning about everything. She even had the nerve to say that I hadn't cooked the hotpot right. I mean, seriously, next time she comes for dinner round here, she can cook her own bloody food. I won't be surprised if someone just slaps her one day, you know? I don't know how someone could even bring up such a selfish stuck up cow like that. And I know Adam's happy and all that, but sometimes I just want to…"

Knife. Metal. Three blades. It was all so familiar. Way too familiar.

_~8~_

Charlotte tossed and turned around in her bed. The images of the knife in her head making it impossible for her to even think about getting one second of sleep. She turned to look at the clock reading that it was 2 o'clock in the morning. Sighing she hoped out of bed and walked back down into the living room. Finding an empty envelop on the coffee table, she picked a pen up and began drawing the knife from memory. Only this time it was different. She wasn't remembering the drawing on the knife she had seen at the police station. She was remembering the actual knife. She knew then that she must have definitely seen it before, but where was still the question.

Finished the drawing she looked down it, just as the image on the knife flashed back into her mind again. She sighed, scrunching it up and throwing it into the bin nearby. Her eyes flickered over to a leaflet also lying on the coffee table about what's going on is Cardiff. A word was written across it above the Millennium Centre, in her own handwriting. She picked it up and looked at it. The word said 'Remember'. She mouthed the word to herself before standing up and heading back to her room.

_~8~_

Charlotte walked around the outside of the Millennium centre aimlessly, hunched up with her hand sin her pockets in an attempt to keep warm. She still didn't completely understand why she had come here, or why she had written remember. But she knew that if she thought hard enough that it would probably come to her. She thought that she was the only one here and until she saw a figure appear from behind the water tower. Judging by the build, Charlotte guessed that the figure was a woman. Charlotte continued to stare at her, even though she couldn't see her she seemed slightly familiar, but again she couldn't quite remember where she had seen her from. The woman obviously saw her too as she began walking towards her. The image of the knife flashed before Charlotte's eyes again and she too started walking towards the woman. The image of the knife flashed in front of her again, but this time there was an image of a person wearing a mask. The person took a mask off to reveal the face. That face was the face of the woman standing in front of her, right now as she came into the light.

"Hello, again." She said. Charlotte frowned. So she had seen her before, but the where was still a mystery. "You were right. You told Jack that we should work with the police. I was the only one who bothered so I was the only one who saw the report." She opened up her handbag and rummaged through it. Charlotte saw her grab onto something and she pulled out an object. A knife. The knife. Charlotte gasped. "They got a good likeness."

""Y-you have the knife." Charlotte stuttered. "I'll tell the police. I'll tell my cousin. He works for them." She stopped and frowned again. "How do I know you?" she asked.

The woman ignored her. "I thought you might have seen it, and that can trip the amnesia, just one specific image if you're clever. He said you were good." Charlotte frowned even more, wondering what this woman meant by 'he'. "Anyway… it's not much good now, I can't really… You're gonna put up a fight, so I've got to." She placed the knife back in the bag as she began to rummage through it again. "Erm… hold on. Sorry." She looked through the bag again and pulled out another object. A gun. She cocked the gun as she placed her bag onto the floor. "There, that's better."

"Put it down." Charlotte said as calm as she possible could, even though everything inside her made her want to scream and run away, she couldn't find herself able to do it.

"You had to come back."

"Put the gun down."

"You're the only one who can make the link." She said. "Well, the only one in public. Torchwood's gonna find out by morning, but I'll be gone. I don't know where. Far away. What am I gonna do?" She looked like she was going to cry at any moment now. "I loved this job. I really loved it. And now I've got to run. Oh, Christ. How can you do any other job after this one?"

"Come on, please, just put the gun down. You don't want to do this."

"'Cause it gets inside you." The woman continued. "You do this job for long enough and you end up thinking… How come we get all the Weevils and bollocks and shit? Is that what alien life is? Filth? But maybe there's better stuff out there. Brilliant stuff. Beautiful stuff. Just, they don't come here. This planet's so dirty, that's all we get. The shit."

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I wish I could forget." She said.

"Why did you kill those three people." Charlotte asked.

"For the glove." The woman answered. She looked like she was about to move further towards Charlotte, and she took a step back.

"Stay back. Stay where you are okay?"

"I needed to bodies." The woman continued, explaining. "That's how it works. Violent death. It was so easy. To bring them back, I just position myself behind the head so they never see me twice."

"You killed three people." Charlotte said, pointing out the obvious. Her eyes never leaving the gun pointed at her.

"It was the only way." The woman said as if that made it all okay. "The more I use the glove, the more I control it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What glove?" Charlotte asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Where have I seen you before?"

"If I can get enough practice, then think what the glove could do. If I could get it to work all the time on anything, beyond the two minutes, if it could work permanently, it would resurrect." She explained. "Resurrection on demand for the whole world. Isn't that good? Isn't it though?" she asked, never waiting for Charlotte to reply. "Well that's what I've been working for. All day and all night. The rest of them go swanning about while I'm working. You got to get inside this stuff. You surrender yourself to it. I did with the knife and the glove. And that's why the perception filter isn't gonna work on me." She suddenly moved the gun away from Charlotte and towards the water tower and shot. Suddenly a man fell to the ground, like he had appeared out of nowhere. A bullet wound straight in his forehead. Charlotte took a few more steps back, and gasped.

"Who is he?" Charlotte asked. "Where the hell did he come from?" She looked up and the woman, gesturing to the man. "What have you done?" The woman didn't answer, she just simply cocked the gun again and aimed it at Charlotte. "Please, don't."

"I can't let you go." The woman said.

"Please." Charlotte asked again, tears beginning to fall down her face.

"I've got to."

"No, no, please."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I've got to. I've got to. I've got to." Charlotte couldn't stop herself from crying now. All she could think about was her friends and her family, how they all would be if they found out she had died. She looked up, and saw the man that the woman had shot, standing up, alive and breathing. She suddenly stopped crying and stared at him wide-eyed.

"Put down the gun." He ordered. The woman turned around and both of them watched and the wound on his head healed up until it was completely gone. Like it had never happened. "Suzie, it's over. Now, come with me." The woman, Suzie, looked between both the man and Charlotte, hesitating before she put the barrel of the gun under her chin, and fired. She fell to the floor dead and Charlotte gasped, looking down at the woman's dead body and all the memories started flooding back at once.

"I remember." She said. She turned to look at the man, who she now remembered as Captain Jack Harkness staring at her surprised. "I remember." She repeated to him. Not being able to balance herself she dropped to her knees. "I remember."

_~8~_

Charlotte stood, leaning up against a wall in Jack's office as they both watched Ianto Jones seal up the glove in a box labelling it 'not for use' before putting the box away. The two other people, Owen and Toshiko slowly walked over to Jack's desk one at a time placing down one item each down on the desk before they left the office with no words exchanged between any of them.

_~8~_

Charlotte stood on the roof top of the Millennium Centre, Captain Jack Harkness stood next to her as the two of them watched as the sun began to rise over Cardiff.

"Owen and Toshiko, you didn't tell them that you were shot in the head and you survived." Charlotte said.

"You didn't tell them either. Followed my lead." Jack said. "Keep doing that, and you might just get through this."

"Point is she killed you." Charlotte said. "I saw it. She bloody shot you in the head."

"I can't die." Jack said simply.

Charlotte sighed. "Right." She frowned slightly turned back to him, "How?"

"Something happened to me a while back. Long story and far away." Jack explained. "But I was killed… and then I was brought back to life, and ever since then… I can't die." He shrugged. "One day I'll find a doctor, the right sort of doctor and maybe he can explain it, but until then…"

"So nothing can kill you?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, it kind of freaks people out so… It's best if you don't say anything." Jack told her.

"Doesn't really matter anyway does it?" Charlotte said. "You're only going to wipe my memory again so…"

"Why would I do that?" Jack asked.

"Well… you did before." Charlotte pointed out.

"Torchwood's got a vacancy. Job going spare." Jack told her. "Do you want it?"

Charlotte raised her eyebrows, "What do you want me for?"

"Because you were right. We could do more to help." Jack said. "Plus, you kind of did prove that your investigation skills are damn good. So, what do you think. Do you want to sign up?"

Charlotte nodded. It didn't even take her a seconds thought. "Yeah." She turned back to look out at the view of Cardiff. "I do. Yes."

_~8~_

**Authors Note: And that is Everything Changes done. Sorry for any spelling mistakes. I haven't proof read it yet.**

**Please review and all that. It means a lot if you do =]**


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